Armed Forces Compensation Scheme Quinquennial Review and Independent Review of Veterans Welfare Services for Veterans

The following joint statement is released on behalf of myself and the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, the right hon. Member for Plymouth, Moor View (Johnny Mercer).

We are pleased to announce the completion and publication of both the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme Quinquennial Review 2022-23 and the independent review of UK Government Welfare Services for veterans.

The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) provides compensation for injury or illness caused or made worse by service; or where death is caused by service in the UK Armed Forces on or after 6 April 2005. Quinquennial reviews ensure that the scheme is scrutinised and remains fit for purpose; this is the second of these quinquennial reviews.

We informed the House on 2 March 2023 that we had commissioned an additional review into the role, scope and breadth of UK Government welfare provision for veterans, including by the Ministry of Defence under the Veterans UK banner. This is the first time these have been considered in the round since the launch of the strategy for our veterans and corresponding Veterans Strategy Action Plan, and the creation of the Office for Veterans’ Affairs.

These reviews will help us to build on positive work already being undertaken across Government under the strategy for our veterans, including the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) £40 million digitisation project, which will significantly improve customer service and the process for managing claims within MOD.

We welcome both reviews and are grateful to the review teams for the considerable amount of work that has gone into both reports. The MOD and Office for Veterans’ Affairs, along with other stakeholders, will now consider the recommendations of both reports in full, and the Government’s response to each will be published later in the year.

We are placing copies of these reviews in the Library of the House.

The attachments are:

UK Government Services for Veterans Review (Independent Review of UK Government Welfare Services for Veterans.pdf).

Annex D Public Bodies Review Programme (Annex D Public Bodies Review Programme- Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committees_.pdf).

AFCS Quinquennial Review 2023 (Armed Forces Compensation Scheme Quinquennial Review 2023.pdf).

Attachments can be viewed online at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2023-07-17/HCWS956/.

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